By Nathaniel Smith, Columnist, The Times
Tropical Storm Harvey and Donald Trump both were foreseeable disasters that have caused a lot of damage and suffering.
Republicans knew Trump would be trouble. His campaign was accompanied, but not at all impeded, by a whole litany of negative comments about him by his fellow primary candidates, former candidates and presidents, and other Republican leaders....

Updated, 4:00 p.m. With expanded comments from Caln Commissioner Josh Young
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
Chester County Sheriff Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh
The Sheriff of Chester County is under fire from county Democrats, local elected officials and social media users after liking a Facebook post that suggested Klan members, Neo-Nazi’s and White Supremacists offer less of threat to property...

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
Sunday night people in West Chester, Kennett Square and numerous other locations around Chester County came together to do what our president could not bring himself to do: condemn the terrorism of White Nationalists, including the attack on demonstrators in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday.
Instead, President Donald Trump has a new ad out attacking the media as “enemies”...

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
Tanned, rested and ready — amazing what the blue waters of the Caribbean and lots of odd beverages with paper umbrellas will do for the soul — and ready to jump into the burning dumpster fire that is politics, 2017.
While Republicans in the U.S. Senate debates various health bills that will likely cost them both their Senate majority and the U.S. House — and...

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
“I was born in a cross-fire hurricane
And I howled at the morning driving rain
But it’s all right now, in fact, it’s a gas
But it’s all right. I’m Jumpin’ Jack Flash
It’s a gas, gas, gas”
— The Rolling Stones, Jumpin’ Jack Flash.
It’s pretty clear that politics over the next 18 or so months will be anything but calm, as...

Three of Chester County’s federal elected officials, U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello (R-6), U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan (R-7) and U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr. (D) took strong issue with President Donald Trump’s decision Thursday to withdraw from the Paris Agreement to limit carbon emissions.
The county’s other two elected officials — U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-16) and U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey appear...

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
Just when the healthcare mess seemed ready to drown our local Congressvictims in a Jonestown Flood like deluge, President Trump’s firing of FBI Director James B. Comey, Tuesday, swooped in and saved them by changing the subject.
And by saving them, I mean sparing them from a looming electoral firing squad by hitting them with a flaming asteroid.
While Pennsylvania’s...

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
That loud sigh of relief you might be hearing is coming from our three local members of Congress — Ryan Costello (R-6), Pat Meehan (R-7) and Lloyd Smucker (R-16) — when it became clearer that the White House wouldn’t force a vote on the revised replacement for the Affordable Care Act this coming week.
While the text of the revised legislation isn’t out, multiple...

By Kathi Cozzone, Chester County Commissioner
Kathi Cozzone
President Trump has presented his first budget proposal, a document containing many surprises, and quite a few points that have alarmed various groups of people from housing advocates to environmentalists to diplomats. Count me among the alarmed. In Pennsylvania, Counties are on the front lines of spending on human services. We leverage a...

Could 2016 become a textbook example of win the battle, lose the war?
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
Across America, Democrats wail in anguish while Republicans rejoice in total control of the federal government.
Confident of the outcome of the election, Democrats were quite sure that Hillary Clinton would defeat Donald Trump and they would regain control of the U.S. Senate.
It didn’t quite work...